1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of nail clipping or nail trimming systems, particularly human nail clipping or human nail trimming systems, and particularly for infant nail trimming or infant nail clipping systems.
2. Background of the Art
Human nails on the hands and feet, and especially human fingernails, are in need of regular reduction in length and shaping or they become unsightly and even make the person subject to injury when nails inadvertently catch or snag on materials. Prior to technology, these nails would wear down by abrasion during work and movement.
There are numerous types of human nail shaping, cutting, clipping and trimming systems available in the marketplace. The various types of nail reduction systems includes filing systems (nail files, emory boards, and the like), scissors and scissor-type systems, and the traditional leveraged nail clipper. Examples of the leveraged nail clipper may be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,812,868 (Keating); 4,602,430 (Allen); 4,982,747 (Shah); 3,943,948 (Sartore); and 6,523,545 (Rende). These leveraged nail clippers have one common aspect to them, two opposed, forward-facing blades are attached to hinged surfaces, and the hinged surfaces are pressed together to snip nails inserted between the forward-facing blades.
A complex plastic format having side nail cutting access is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,819,673 and 5,622,191.
All of these systems work well for mature nails and mature operators, but there is always room for improvement, especially when using clippers with small children and infants, where unexpected movement can cause injury to the child or infant.